* I was down in Texas last weekend spending time with my brother Doug and his family. At some point, Doug played a song in his car that just blew me away. The singer was a guy named Chris Knight, who I at first thought was kinda like a Kentucky version of Steve Earle, with some early John Pryne thrown in. He’s from a coal mining family and writes songs about what he knows best…
The songs were of strugglers, stragglers, strangers and survivors, sung in a voice worn as the hills and lurching down highways we’ve driven before but that beckon still.
Knight’s record company thought he should be a country star, but that didn’t work out. He’s not really a “country” guy. I’m not quite sure he’s an “alt country” person, either. I doubt he’d want to be categorized anyway. He’s simply an honest, dark, flawed soul without a trace of the tiresome overt pandering of mainstream country. He may never make it big, but we know he’ll always be straight with his audience and true to his art.
I just can’t recommend Chris Knight highly enough. Have a listen to “Down the River,” which sent chills down the spine of my nephew Nicholas the first time he heard it. The same thing happened to me. Lyrics are here…
I’ve been thinking Wilson’s cousin
Better find a place to hide
‘Cause I’m going down the river
Yeah I’m going down the river
I couldn’t find a suitable live version of that song because all of his fans sing along the entire time on every video I watched. They are a dedicated bunch, my brother and his wife Shannon included. See for yourself. And that’s one of the more subdued reactions.
* This is one of his most “mainstream country” tunes, but his wordsmith abilities shine right through the production on “It Ain’t Easy Being Me”…
There oughtta be a bridge somewhere they could dedicate to me
I’d probably come to the ceremony with a can of gasoline
Walk on over to the other side, and there I’d light a match
Sit and stare through the smoke and flames and wonder how I’m gonna get back
The sales tax holiday on school supplies and clothing — signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Pat Quinn and set for 10 days starting Aug. 6 — should be a welcome boon for Skip Kanosky, owner of one of the area’s two education supplies stores.
But it’s not.
Despite the governor’s hope that waiving the state’s 5 percent portion of sales tax will boost consumer shopping, Kanosky — who owns The Learning Tree in Bradley — reacted to the news Thursday with a little more than a yawn.
“In Illinois?” he asked. “We can afford that?”
Yikes, man.
* If you’d like to place a small wager on your general election predictions, then by all means click here. You don’t have to plunk anything down to participate, but you can’t win any cash that way, either.
* Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. has been dodging reporters all week about revelations about how he may have participated in a discussion about funneling a million dollars to Rod Blagojevich’s campaign fund in exchange for a US Senate seat appointment. He has finally put out a press release…
“My office has received many requests for comment in response to bits of evidence offered and proffered during the ongoing Blagojevich trial. As much as I would like to clear up the misstatements made by some, and clarify my role (really my non-role) in this affair, obviously it would be inappropriate for me to do so until the trial is over. It is appropriate, however, to emphasize what has long been in the public record: I have cooperated and will continue to cooperate with all government entities investigating this matter, and I have never been advised that I am a target of this investigation. Most important, I was never part of any improper scheme with Blagojevich or anyone else related to securing the vacant Illinois senate seat.”
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Senate candidate Mark Kirk says he is done answering questions about exaggerating his military accomplishments.
Several times this week, Kirk has refused to answer questions about specific incidents during his 21 years in the Navy Reserve. He said Friday that he’ll let his official fitness reports speak for him from now on.
Those reports include glowing evaluations but offer no details on specific incidents — such as whether he came under fire while serving in Afghanistan, as he once claimed.
*** UPDATE *** I forgot to mention Sen. Dan Rutherford’s quite solid fundraising during the first six months of the year. Check it out. The GOP treasurer nominee raised almost half a million dollars, loaned himself another $200K and had more than a million dollars cash on hand. Very strong numbers for a down-ballot statewide candidate. If you forced me to make a “Pick to Click” for November, it’d probably be Rutherford.
* Other stuff…
* Carl Officer: Racism behind challenges to his campaign, other black Senate candidates
* Kirk stands by vote against unemployment benefits
* I went to college with state Sen. Mike Jacobs (D-East Moline), so I know him well and we’ve been buddies a very long time. But, as I’ve told Mike more times than I can count, he really needs to learn to zip his lip every now and then. Here he is talking about the public reaction to news that Gov. Pat Quinn handed out huge raises to his top staff during the worst fiscal crisis since the Great Depression…
“Taxpayers get distracted by things that don’t matter worth a hill of beans” Jacobs said .
To his credit, Jacobs went on to say that he wouldn’t have given out those raises if he was governor. But he’s flat-out wrong about how the public is being “distracted” by triviality.
These raises go right to the heart of what’s wrong with Pat Quinn’s governance. Cuts for you, but not for me. “Shared sacrifice” for everyone except the people demanding that sacrifice. If the Pat Quinn of 20 years ago could somehow be brought back to existence, I’m certain he’d be disgusted at what he’d see.
[Illinoisans] have been savaged in this recession. Many have not only endured pay freezes but witnessed their wages cut, their salaries whittled even further by furloughs, their retirement accounts bruised if they’re lucky enough to have them at all, their health care premiums multiplied. Unemployment in Illinois remains in the double digits.
It is against this backdrop that the governor has the gall to propose and promote digging even deeper into their pockets with an income tax increase, while continuing to borrow Illinois’ way into oblivion and making vendors wait in record numbers for payment for services long ago delivered. If Quinn doesn’t understand how badly he’s undermined his own case, no matter how real the state’s budget problems are, well, perhaps there’s just no hope for him.
No doubt this particular revelation will be featured prominently in Brady’s political ads from now until November, and should be. It is impossible to be shocked by any behavior coming out of Illinois government anymore, but this is so obviously inappropriate, such low-hanging fruit for Brady to take a whack at that, well, we just don’t know what planet Quinn currently occupies.
If he knows what’s good for him, Quinn will admit his egregious error and ask his senior staff to give back those salary increases.
* Cairo Residents Protest, Call On Quinn To Help: Not everyone in Cairo greeted Governor Pat Quinn with open arms Thursday. A few residents showed up to protest their high utility rates and call on the governor to do something about it.
* The much-vaunted website Politifact took a look at the US Senate mudslinging this week. One of the claims made by Republican Mark Kirk’s advertising is: “At his father’s bank, Alexi made tens of millions in risky loans to convicted mobsters. Then, the bank collapsed.” Politifact’s take…
In July 2009, Broadway Bank filed foreclosure lawsuits seeking to recoup $12.9 million in defaulted loans made to the pair. So there’s no question that these were “risky” loans, as the ad put it.
But what was Giannoulias’ role in these loans? He was a senior loan officer at the bank at the time, but there’s no evidence he approved them. […]
The ad, however, suggests that risky loans to mobsters caused the bank collapse, and that’s a big stretch. More accurately, the bank invested heavily in construction and development and could not weather the collapse of the real estate market. The losses sustained in loans made to Giorango while Giannoulias was a senior loan officer, while substantial, were a relative drop in the bucket in the overall scheme of the bank’s woes. […]
In summary, D’Arco’s involvement involved a loan that predated Giannoulias’ time at Broadway Bank. Stratievsky had not been charged with anything when Broadway made loans to him. As for Giorango, his relationship with Broadway Bank began long before Giannoulias came on board.
But as the Chicago Tribune detailed, the bank made Giorango an additional $20 million in new loans while Giannoulias was a senior loan officer. There’s no evidence Giannouias approved the loans, but he did some work on them. Still, we think it’s awfully misleading to suggest losses on risky loans to convicted felons led to the bank’s demise (though they certainly didn’t help). In all, we think that all shakes out to a Half True.
* Giannoulias: “He (Kirk) did violate Pentagon rules, twice actually, for improperly mingling politics with his military service”…
The Pentagon released a statement to AP saying that Kirk was twice “counseled” for mixing politics with military service. And we have a memo from the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense referring to “concerns arising from his partisan political activities during his last two tours of active duty.”
The fact that Kirk was merely “counseled” suggests these were not deemed terribly egregious violations of military policy. But the Pentagon did tell AP that Kirk signed a statement acknowledging that he knew the rules and wouldn’t break them again. You don’t sign such a statement if you aren’t deemed to have skirted the rules. We rule this claim True.
* Kirk: “Alexi Giannoulias’ top aide was a longtime BP lobbyist”…
[The ad] begins, “America’s biggest environmental disaster … Where do the candidates stand?”
By the City of Chicago’s definition, Zemenides was a lobbyist for a BP subsidiary. We think it’s highly misleading to suggest that he lobbied in any way for a federal policy that allowed the oil spill to occur. We’re not saying a lobbyist isn’t a lobbyist. But some cities define lobbyist differently.
It’s one thing to be an attorney handling landscaping and zoning issues for a company developing retail gas stations; quite another to lobby for lax federal legislation on deepwater oil drilling. The Kirk ad makes too much of very little. We rate the claim Barely True.
Politifact’s headline on that last one is: “Illinois GOP Senate candidate Mark Kirk smears opponent with BP link.” Pretty obvious how they stand.
A few months ago, Gov. Quinn locked himself into position when he criticized state Sen. Bill Brady, his opponent in the race for governor, for paying no income taxes for two years. Brady’s businesses had tanked with the economy, and he used various tax laws, including President Obama’s stimulus program, to get a complete refund of his state and federal income taxes one year and of his federal taxes the next. Those refunds included all taxes withheld from Brady’s legislative paycheck. Quinn hit him hard.
I was down in Texas with my brother Doug last Friday when U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias revealed that, just like Brady, he had received a complete refund on his state and federal income taxes, including on his state treasurer’s salary. Financial troubles at his now-defunct family bank allowed him to take huge deductions that wiped out his entire tax liability.
My brother hasn’t lived in Illinois for quite a while, but is politically active in Texas. He predicted that Quinn would now have to drop his “he didn’t pay taxes” attack against Brady or risk hurting his fellow Democrat Giannoulias.
Nah, I replied. You don’t understand Illinois. Giannoulias is running for the U.S. Senate. Nobody who’s anybody really cares about U.S. senators in Illinois. Plus, this tax issue is, to quote Rod Blagojevich, bleeping golden. It will work incredibly well in TV ads. Quinn is behind in all the polls and desperately needs that issue to undercut Brady on economic issues by painting him as a completely out-of-touch, uncaring, rich white guy. The governor will toss Alexi under the bus any day now, fellow Democrat or no fellow Democrat, I told Doug.
Sure enough, Quinn told reporters a few days later that Giannoulias should have paid his taxes. The governor wasn’t about to give up a prime campaign issue just to guard another Democrat’s back.
Quinn was actually beaten to the bipartisan punch by Republican Rep. Mark Kirk, who is running against Giannoulias. Kirk took a shot at fellow GOPer Brady while blasting Giannoulias for not paying income taxes. Kirk then launched a statewide radio advertising campaign blasting Giannoulias.
Like I said, the issue is golden. Bleeping golden.
Whenever I post a story about this tax issue on my blog, a nasty fight develops in the comment section between people who say that Brady and Giannoulias were just following the law and those who believe it’s an outrage that some rich guys didn’t pay taxes on their taxpayer-funded salaries.
I fall on the side that says both men should’ve paid taxes on their government salaries, no matter what. I can understand the other side, and I can even see the long-term danger in effectively creating two tax codes, one for politicians and one for everybody else.
But there’s just something not right when an elected official like Brady can afford to loan his own campaign hundreds of thousands of dollars and then accept a complete refund of his income tax withholding. Giannoulias says he’ll donate all of his refunded cash to charity, so he obviously doesn’t need it. Why couldn’t they help fund their own salaries like the rest of us are doing?
Plus, in an era when everybody seems to be stark, raving angry about, well, everything, I reserve the right to be mad about this. If nothing else, it irks me to no end that these guys could think they could get away with this during a campaign.
And now, in yet another weird twist to what was already a supremely weird election year, you can’t tell the attackers without a scorecard. Only in Illinois.
* McConnell stumps for Kirk: Thursday night, a committee including State Representative Jil Tracy (R-Mt. Sterling), former State Sen. Laura Kent Donahue and other Republicans hosted a fundraiser for Congressman Mark Kirk. The headliner of the event was the Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
* Prosecutors are moving pretty fast in the Blagojevich trial, and the judge knocked down yet another defense request…
After just five weeks of testimony, prosecutors in Rod Blagojevich’s case say they’ll rest their case on Tuesday.
The government’s case was expected to last until August.
The defense asked if they could start their case the following week. Judge James Zagel said that was unlikely, but he might give them until Wednesday or Thursday to begin.
I was talking to an attorney last night who said most lawyers love Zagel for his dry sense of humor, fair rulings and his judicial temperament. Some lawyers will even camp out in a courtroom to watch Zagel on the bench, she claimed, adding she believed that jurors will probably identify with Zagel through the course of the trial and that his constant rulings against Blagojevich’s lawyers would be a very bad thing for the defense.
* So, I was reading through the latest Rod Blagojevich surveillance recording transcripts last night and one kinda jumped out at me. The recording was made November 7, 2008 at 1:12 in the afternoon and featured Blagojevich talking to his deputy governor Bob Greenlee…
GREENLEE: (Reading to Blagojevich) Um, uh, “I’ve been predicting Emil for awhile”, somebody says. Um… (dial tone) (PAUSE)
GREENLEE: “Just observing, Deb Mell is coming off as brazen, ungrateful and arrogant.” This is a pro-Claypool post.
BLAGOJEVICH: Yeah.
GREENLEE: Um, (clears throat) somebody else suggested Sandy Jackson for the Senate.
BLAGOJEVICH: Oh yeah?
GREENLEE: Um… (PAUSE)
BLAGOJEVICH: Doesn’t sound like a lot to me.
GREENLEE: I’m still going. There’s just so many of these posts, and they keep getting pulled down. Um, the anti-Claypool post and pro Jan Schakowsky post.
BLAGOJEVICH: I don’t care about that.
GREENLEE: Uh…
BLAGOJEVICH: (To wife) It’s Faith Hill, Patti, look at ‘er.
GREENLEE: That’s it.
BLAGOJEVICH: Not so good.
GREENLEE: We need more, I’m want to see how many have been pulled down.
BLAGOJEVICH: (Exhales loudly). (PAUSE)
It looked to me like they were talking about comments on this blog. Sure enough, they were. A post that day discussed possible US Senate appointments and ran a list of names of people considering Rahm Emanuel’s US House seat. Apparently, I was deleting a whole bunch of them, but I don’t recall why. Maybe some of you do.
Blagojevich used to tell me that he didn’t ever read the blog, but his staff told me that they often read it to him or printed it out for him.
The exceptionally long recording of Dec. 4, 2008 continues with Rod Blagojevich explaining to Deputy Gov. Robert Greenlee and his pollster Fred Yang that Jesse Jackson Jr. and Lisa Madigan were “equally repugnant” to him personally.
“If they were both drowning and I could only save one, I really think I’d save Jesse,” Blagojevich is heard saying on tape. “From a personal standpoint, he’s less repugnant to me than she is.”
In a fiery, emotional plea, former Police Chief Vito Scavo asked the Melrose Park Police Pension Board to recognize his more than three decades of service to the village and let him keep his pension despite his multiple felony convictions.
The police officers under his command “would have followed me anywhere,” Scavo, 62, told the board, many of who have known Scavo for decades. “I was honorable, honest and hard-working. That’s what this is about.”
He was convicted of strong-arming local businesses to use the private security firms he illegally ran out of the police department.
Bryant Brewer, 24, of 5800 Block of South Wolcott, faces one count of first degree murder, four counts of attempted murder and one count of armed robbery, according to police.
Brewer allegedly gunned down officer Thor Soderberg with Soderberg’s own weapon outside a police station near 61st and Racine Avenue Wednesday afternoon.
The Cook County Sheriff’s office received information at around 6:30 p.m. Thursday that a visitor or an inmate brought a weapon into the facility, prompting an immediate lockdown of all 10 divisions at Cook County Jail located at 3015 S. California Ave.
Ald. Joe Moore (49th) called the stash “embarrassing” and a “colossal waste of money.”
“The fact that they have all these blue carts in storage is just an indictment of the city’s failure to live up to its commitment to bring recycling to two-thirds of the city,” Moore said.[…]
Ald. Tom Allen (38th) said he has no problem with the stockpile, adding, “Nobody saw this perfect storm of economic meltdown coming. I assume they bought ‘em in bulk, which gives you a better price.”
* Des Plaines medical firm pays $7.3M to settle federal charges of kickback scheme
* Carthage alderman arrested, charged with embezzling $13,000 from fire department
Bobby Smith, 44, now an inactive volunteer firefighter and former secretary and treasurer of the Carthage Clipper Fire Department’s Benevolent Association, posted 10 percent of a $3,000 bond after his arrest. His first court appearance is July 15 in Carthage.
Smith is no longer on active duty as a volunteer firefighter, though he is still an alderman on the Carthage City Council.
* The latest Rasmussen Reports poll has some major movement in the governor’s race. Numbers in brackets are results from the pollster on June 7, April 28, April 5 and March 8…
Brady: 43% [47% 45%, 45%, 47%] Quinn: 40% [36% 38%, 38%, 37%] Some Other Candidate 9% [8% 5%, 7%, 6%] Not sure 8% [10% 11%, 10%, 9%]
The survey, taken Wednesday night, follows Quinn’s announcement late last week that he was cutting state spending by $1 billion as he wrestles with one of the worst state budget deficits in the country. State legislators wrapped up their session earlier this year, leaving Quinn with a $13 billion deficit to resolve. […]
Given Illinois’ economic problems and the national political environment, Quinn is in a surprisingly tough race despite the powers of incumbency and the state’s strong Democratic tendencies.
Eleven percent (11%) of Illinois voters now have a Very favorable opinion of Quinn, while 27% view him Very Unfavorably.
Brady is seen Very Favorably by 15% and Very Unfavorably by 16%.
These numbers are consistent with the earlier surveys. At this point in a campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the number of people with strong opinions more significant than the total favorable/unfavorable numbers.
* How would you rate the job Pat Quinn has been doing as Governor… do you strongly approve, somewhat approve, somewhat disapprove, or strongly disapprove of the job he’s been doing?
The survey of 500 Likely Voters in Illinois was conducted on July 7, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/-4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC
Please, try to be just as brutally honest every day as you are on a government surveillance recording played at your trial today.
On election day, 2008, you were caught on tape talking about how you wanted to appoint yourself to the US Senate seat while lashing out at your fellow Illinoisans…
“Now is the time to put my f——children and my wife first for a change,” Blagojevich is heard saying. “I f—— busted my a– … I gave your f—— baby health care… What do I get for that? Only 13 percent of you think I’m doing a good job, so f— all of you.”
That’s the real Rod Blagojevich, not the one we’ve seen on those goofy cable TV shows. Thanks.
* Dear Gov. Pat Quinn,
You haven’t yet been able to force a compromise in the big road construction strike, but a Naperville school superintendent has managed to get Local 150 to come back to work…
Naperville Community Unit School District 203 has reached an agreement with the striking operators’ engineers union to resume work on the $87.7 million renovation at Naperville Central High School.
Workers returned in full force this morning and could work in several shifts, seven days a week, to complete the project by the Aug. 25, the first day of school.
Superintendent Mark Mitrovich would no provide details on the agreement, which was reached at 8:30 p.m. last night, he said at a press conference this morning. The details will be disclosed at a district board meeting July 19, he said.
As of now, it is an “accord in principle” between the district and International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, Mitrovich said.
A recent report found that 2.7 million children on Medicaid in nine states, most of them states that outsource Medicaid, are not receiving required screenings and immunizations.
The pure and beautiful future you imagine isn’t all roses.
* Dear Dunning-Kruger effect authors,
Thanks for explaining Illinois politics and certain editorial boards better than I ever could…
* Rasmussen has a new poll. Previous results from Rasmussen’s polls conducted June 7, April 28, April 5, March 8 and February 3 are in brackets…
Kirk: 39 [42% 46%, 41%, 41%, 46%]
Giannoulias: 40 [39% 38%, 37%, 44%, 40%]
Other: 9 [7% 5%, 8%, 5%, 4%]
Unsure: 12 [12% 12%. 13%, 10%, 10%]
Not a huge amount of movement since last month but Kirk’s overall trend is downward since late April. He peaked during the time that Giannoulias’ bank went under. Giannoulias tanked a bit back then, but hasn’t really come back yet, even though Kirk had a very bad June. This thing will be close for a while. From the pollster…
The Illinois Senate race remains a virtual tie, but Republican Mark Kirk’s support appears to be trending down. […]
This is the first time Kirk’s support has ever fallen below the 40% mark. From February through June, he consistently attracted from 41% to 46% of the vote.
This marks the first time since March, however, that the Democrat has risen out of the 30s. His support against Kirk since February has ranged from 37% to 44%. […]
Kirk attracts 79% of the Republican vote while 73% of Democrats back Giannoulias. The Republican holds a two-to-one lead among voters not affiliated with either major party. But one-third of those voters are not committed to either major party candidate.
Favorability…
Giannoulias is viewed Very Favorably by seven percent (7%) of Ilinois voters and Very Unfavorably by 21%.
Seven percent (7%) also have a Very favorable opinion of Kirk, while 20% regard him Very Unfavorably.
The Democrat’s numbers have changed little from a month ago, while the Republican’s favorability ratings have fallen slightly. At this point in a campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the number of people with strong opinions more significant than the total favorable/unfavorable numbers.
* How would you rate the job Barack Obama has been doing as President… do you strongly approve, somewhat approve, somewhat disapprove, or strongly disapprove of the job he’s been doing?
* A proposal has been made to repeal the health care bill and stop it from going into effect. Do you strongly favor, somewhat favor, somewhat oppose or strongly oppose a proposal to repeal the health care bill?
* Suppose the new Arizona immigration law was being considered for your state. Would you favor or oppose passage of that law in your state?
52% Favor
33% Oppose
15% Not sure
* The U.S. Justice Department has decided to challenge the legality of Arizona’s new immigration law in federal court. Do you agree or disagree with the decision to challenge the legality of Arizona’s new immigration law?
38% Agree
51% Disagree
11% Not sure
* Methodology…
The survey of 500 Likely Voters in Illinois was conducted on July 7, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/-4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.
* TPM’s tracker of all surveys done on this race to date…
With fewer than seven hours remaining, Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher held the slimmest of leads over Kevin Youkilis of the rival Red Sox in a race that is shaping up to be a photo finish at today’s 4 p.m. ET deadline in the 2010 All-Star Game Final Vote Sponsored by Sprint. […]
The two Final Vote winners, one from each league, will be announced live on MLB.com and MLB Network at 6 p.m. ET. Those two players will take the 34th and final roster spots for the 81st All-Star Game on Tuesday in Anaheim.
After multiple lead changes, including three in the past 24 hours alone, Swisher and Youkilis continued to be locked in a virtual tie for the American League’s top spot. Paul Konerko of the White Sox remained in third place and is followed by Michael Young of the Rangers and Delmon Young of the Twins — both of whom homered on Wednesday.
Some things are just more important than politics, so take the time to vote today. Click here now. If you didn’t vote early - and even if you did - you can still vote often!
A supporter of U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. told the Democratic congressman in 2008 that he would raise $1 million in return for then- Gov. Rod Blagojevich naming Jackson to the U.S. Senate, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday.
The allegation, made on a busy day at Blagojevich’s federal corruption trial, was the first time authorities publicly suggested Jackson was aware of efforts by his allies to swap campaign cash for his appointment to the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
The Sun-Times has more on the meeting of Jackson and Raghuveer Nayak, who reportedly offered Rod Blagojevich a million dollars if he appointed Jackson to the US Senate. Also present at the meeting was Blagojevich employee Rajinder Bedi, who was allegedly acting as a go-between…
The conversation turned to Jackson’s interest in the U.S. Senate seat, which in a matter of days would be up for grabs once Barack Obama became president.
“The thing that’s significant, Nayak says: ‘I will raise $1 million for Blagojevich if he appoints you [Jackson] to the Senate seat,’” Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Niewoehner told U.S. District Judge James Zagel with the jury out of the room. Niewoehner said Bedi heard Nayak tell Jackson this. He did not offer any more details.
Hours later, Bedi met with Rod Blagojevich’s fund-raising chairman, Robert Blagojevich.
“That statement … leads Bedi to mention [to Robert Blagojevich] that Nayak is interested in doing fund-raising for Blagojevich, and he wants Jackson appointed,” Niewoehner said.
Fortunately for Blagojevich, the jury wasn’t allowed to hear that testimony. But this next part is very unfortunate for Blagojevich…
Three days later, Gov. Blagojevich was recorded talking about overtures for Jackson in a conversation with one of his deputy governors, Robert Greenlee. […]
“Unbelievable isn’t it,” responded Blagojevich. “Then I, we were approached, pay to play. That, you know he’d raise me 500 grand, an emissary came, then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him a senator.”
In a Dec. 4 telephone call with one of his advisers, Fred Yang, Blagojevich said he was now keeping an open mind on “clearly somethin’ I would never have considered and that’s Jesse Jr.”
Here’s why this is so bad for Blagojevich. Just yesterday, you will recall, Blagojevich’s attorneys told the judge that their defense would be that Blagojevich “did not honestly, and in good faith, believe his acts and conduct, nor his intent, were illegal.” They then suggested that he acted on the advice of others, including his legal counsel. Those recorded statements and others (we’ll get to one of those in a few seconds) totally undermine the defense.
* If you’d like to hear some real drama, click here and listen to Blagojevich being informed by his press secretary that the Tribune is about to run a story that the FBI had him under electronic surveillance. The full transcript is here. It’ll give you the chills.
The very next morning at 7:45, Blagojevich tells his brother not to go ahead with his talks about that Jackson money.
Blagojevich clearly knew that what he did was wrong because he ordered it undone. His defense is gonna be worthless. Also, he’s a former prosecutor, for crying out loud. It’ll be hugely tough to claim ignorance of the law.
* Trial roundup…
* Blago Often Away From Office, Aide Says: A former aide says Rod Blagojevich on average spent about two to eight hours a week in his office when he was governor of Illinois. Former Deputy Governor Robert Greenlee testified Thursday at Blagojevich’s corruption trial that generally during working hours the former governor was either at home or attending high-profile events.
* I told subscribers about this yesterday morning, but the comptroller’s office has released a new and very depressing quarterly fiscal report. Some highlights… um, make that “lowlights“…
*The adjusted year-end General Revenue Fund balance was a negative $4.69 billion — a record.
*The backlog of unpaid bills on June 30 was $4.7 billion — a record.
*Because of the state’s financial condition, the amount of time it takes the comptroller’s office to pay bills once they arrive in the office is 153 working days — a record.
“Illinois ended the year in the worst fiscal position in its history,” the report concludes.
* Human service advocate Don Moss sent this along earlier today…
FYI - Comptroller payment dates:
As of today for non-expedited payments:
For anything over $375.00 – for vouchers submitted up to November 6, 2009
For anything under $375.00 – for vouchers submitted up to June 3, 2010
This means that community nonprofit human service providers have to wait up to 8 months to be paid for their services unless they are on “expedited” payment. They can only qualify for expedited payments when they have no reserve funds and are close to running out of lines of credit with their banks.
The plan to further delay payments to providers in order to stretch the state’s insufficient funds will be devastating to many of them.
Quinn’s budget office issued a statement that shifts the blame for many of the financial problems outlined in the comptroller’s report to lawmakers.
“For the second year in a row, the General Assembly refused to deal with the realities of the state’s economic crisis. Instead, legislators approved an under-funded state budget, which passed the tough decisions along to Governor Quinn,” the statement read. “Governor Quinn is working with legislators to urge them to take action to address the fiscal crisis by creating jobs, reducing spending, using responsible borrowing strategies and increasing revenues for our state.
“This budget crisis was created over several years of fiscal mismanagement, and Governor Quinn is committed to fixing it.”
Quinn’s budget office said it plans to borrow the $1.3 billion for failure of revenue later this month.
* Put into the context of Quinn’s bigtime pay raises for his top aides, this comptroller’s report doesn’t exactly make him appear to be a great manager with his priorites in order. For instance, here’s the Decatur Herald & Tribune…
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn apparently believes that his own staff is immune from the “shared sacrifice” he says is necessary to address the state’s horrific financial situation.
At the same time he was planning on spending cuts of $1.4 billion and talking of “shared sacrifice,” he was handing out raises to his staff. Some of those pay increases were more than 20 percent. […]
To get out of this financial crisis, the state needs leaders who understand they can’t be the Grinch in public and Santa Claus to their own staff.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has a convenient definition of “shared sacrifice.” He’s all for it — except when it comes to his staff. […]
Apparently he is not seriously interested in downsizing government, but rather in holding on until the day after the November election. He must be confident he will win, and that lawmakers will come out of hiding and approve a tax increase
…the governor of Illinois is oblivious to the plight of his recession-battered constituents — and too undisciplined to do the job he inherited from Rod Blagojevich. Coming on successive days, though, the Associated Press report and the comptroller’s year-end numbers suggest that Pat Quinn’s administration just isn’t up to running a multibillion-dollar operation. […]
Yet the governor who last year promised to “cut, cut, cut” state government has been insulting citizens by quietly giving his employees nice raises.
* Gov. Quinn is in Carlinville this morning for a bill-signing ceremony with state Sen. Deanna Demuzio. That should be an interesting event, since Sen. Demuzio whacked the guv but good in Bernie Schoenburg’s column today…
“If the governor wants to advocate fiscal responsibility, then he needs (to) lead by example,” Demuzio said in her release. “The state cannot afford this while the budgets for education, human services, and public safety receive drastic cuts and mounting bills remain unpaid. … How do I explain to my constituents that while they are tightening their belts and making sacrifices, the employees of the governor are getting regular boosts in pay?”
Yikes.
* Quinn even got clobbered for his back to school sales tax holiday. Here’s the Sun-Times…
Parents who need relief should take it this August without hesitation.
But Illinois has not become a benevolent state with cash to burn.
It remains a reckless, irresponsible state that has dug itself into a hole from which it may never recover.
In other words, David Vite with the Illinois Retail Merchants, said people can save enough on the basics they may splurge on something else this year.
“They may save enough money to buy a new computer. They may save enough money to buy a printer. They save enough money that they weren’t able to purchase before because they have a few extra dollars in their pocket.” […]
“The fact that there is a sales tax promotion, retailers are also going to promote a little deeper. So there’s going to be additional benefit there.” […]
“Our shoppers have been going to Iowa for their sales tax holiday. Our shoppers have been going over to Missouri for their sales tax holiday. It’s now time for some of those folks to come back over to the really great state of Illinois to purchase their goods and services.”
* In other budget news, the governor still hasn’t yet said how he plans to actually make $41.9 million to the Department of Corrections’ budget. His budget documents said the department would reduce overtime and save cash through “operational efficiencies.” But union worker overtime is by far the largest chunk of cash in the department’s overtime costs, and Quinn won’t touch that…
But, in the case of overtime, Quinn says reductions should not apply to employees who are in labor unions. Most of the overtime costs in the prison system are tied to unionized guards having to work double shifts because of understaffing.
* As I told subscribers this morning, Republican Congressman Mark Kirk has released a new statewide radio ad entitled “No Taxes for Alexi Giannoulias - Higher Taxes For You.” Listen…
Script…
“Alexi Giannoulias just released his taxes. The Chicago Tribune headline said quote: ‘Wealthy Giannoulias paid no taxes last year,’ endquote. Fox Chicago reported that Alexi is worth at least $7 million, but paid no taxes. How? Alexi’s Broadway Bank collapsed from risky loans and loans to convicted mobsters. Alexi just deducted the money he lost on his tax return. Bingo. Pay no taxes, and the government’s FDIC pays Broadway’s $394 million loss. But while Alexi pays no taxes, he thinks you don’t pay enough taxes. Alexi wants higher federal income taxes, higher state income taxes, and higher energy taxes. Listen (to Alexi): ‘I have said from day one, as your state treasurer, that while politically it’s not the smartest thing to say, we need an income tax increase.’ Higher taxes for you. No taxes for Alexi Giannoulias.”
Kirk, however, declined to talk about allegations he exaggerated his accomplishments and the risks he took overseas during his 21 years as a Navy Reserve officer.
Kirk earlier this year told a Chicago newspaper that he came under fire with a Dutch armor unit in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
On Wednesday, Kirk refused to answer a reporter’s questions about whether his recollection of coming under fire in Kandahar was accurate. Instead, Kirk told the reporter to refer to his officer fitness reports — which by press deadline Wednesday night had not arrived in the reporter’s e-mail box.
“What I’ve done is stick with my official military record,” Kirk said. “There are over 20 pages of details on everything I’ve done from an ensign to a commander.”
He can’t continue this line without suffering the consequences.
* Related…
* Kirk, Brady have different ideas about state GOP: Bill Brady and Mark Kirk, two Republicans running for top Illinois offices, sometimes seem to be running in different directions. Kirk, the party’s Senate candidate, questions the judgment of any public official who winds up not paying income taxes. That category includes Kirk’s Democratic opponent but also Brady, the GOP nominee for governor.
* Baltimore Sun: O’Malley, Ehrlich, slow to release tax returns: Bill Brady and Mark Kirk, two Republicans running for top Illinois offices, sometimes seem to be running in different directions. Kirk, the party’s Senate candidate, questions the judgment of any public official who winds up not paying income taxes.
That category includes Kirk’s Democratic opponent but also Brady, the GOP nominee for governor.
* SJ-R Opinion: Revisit ruling requiring special election
Both sides met for about seven hours in Des Plaines but didn’t reach consensus. A Friday morning session is scheduled to go over finances, and another joint bargaining session will continue Monday.
At stake is the future of hundreds of road and building projects throughout Chicago, including a $95 million resurfacing of the Eisenhower Expressway and an $87.7 million high school renovation project in Naperville that has officials there worried the strike will leave their students without enough classroom space when school starts in August.
A Chicago Police officer — an academy instructor who volunteered his time by serving as a guide to a blind triathlete — was shot and killed with his own weapon Wednesday afternoon during a struggle outside a South Side police station, authorities said.
Officer Thor Soderberg, 43, was killed about 3:45 p.m. at 61st and Racine in the parking lot outside the former Englewood District police station, which is now used by the department’s targeted response and gang enforcement units.[…]
The suspect ran away and then robbed a civilian, police said.
Officers from the police station exchanged gunfire with the suspect, who was shot in the abdomen, Jackson said.
Calvin Jefferson, 28, said the suspect is his brother and was in critical but stable condition after being shot in the chest. “I’m still shocked,” said Jefferson, adding that his brother has always been a bit of a loner who is secretive and didn’t talk much to others.
* ComEd Customers to See Big Electric Rate Hike: Illinois Commerce Commission
Many ComEd customers will see an increase of about 11 percent on their electricity bills this month, the Illinois Commerce Commission warns.
The increased price for ComEd this year is the result of changes in the wholesale price of electricity, a release from the ICC said. The ICC does not regulate or set the price of electricity, but reviews and sets the price of delivery services.
Chicago will receive federal grants totaling about $35 million Thursday to launch two long-planned CTA bus projects aimed at speeding travel through downtown and between the South Side and the Loop, officials said Wednesday.
One of the projects is a new form of express bus service that will operate as a downtown circulator to move large numbers of commuters quickly on designated bus-priority lanes, officials said.
* A day after Republican Congressman Mark Kirk took Bill Brady to task for not paying his taxes, Gov. Pat Quinn returned the bipartisan favor and dinged fellow Democrat Alexi Giannoulias for not paying income taxes…
“I believe in the principle that if you get a public salary, you are an elected official, you get a public salary, you should pay income taxes to the state and the federal government. I think that’s a fundamental principle that I believe in,” Quinn said.
Quinn avoided referring to Giannoulias by name. But when reporters asked Quinn whether there was a difference between the tax situations of Brady and Giannoulias, the governor said, “My principle: I don’t think there should be a Brady loophole where people who make millions of bucks then end up paying no taxes whatsoever.”
Moreover, Quinn said, “I think that voluntarily those that are in high office should make it their business to pay taxes” to help fund the military and veterans at the federal level and local schools at the state level.
In his most pointed criticism of Giannoulias, Quinn indicated that instead of the treasurer sending his $30,000 income-tax refund check to charity, it should go to the state, which is facing a $13 billion deficit and $5 billion in unpaid bills.
* Meanwhile, a couple of local bloggers hit Mark Kirk for his sweet tax break today…
But if he is going to slam Giannoulias for simply following the tax code, Kirk should remember that he has also benefited handsomely from tax breaks available to certain homeowners. Ellen Beth Gill reminded us of this fact last night
Kirk gets a large tax break for having purchased a rehabbed property that was sold by the federal government on the cheap to developers who turned it into housing for the wealthy.
While just about everyone else in Lake County is crushed under a huge property tax burden (sometimes over $8,000 per year for a modest house and over $4000 per year for a small condominium), Kirk pays about $700-$800 each year for a pretty swank place in Ft. Sheridan. Now, Kirk will argue that he’s entitled by law to that tax reduction, but isn’t Giannoulias also legally entitled to his tax losses? […]
I haven’t noticed Kirk donating the difference between what he pays in property taxes and what he normally would pay to the local schools. They need the money badly too.
The short version is that Kirk and his neighbors used a very clever interpretation of Illinois’ historical preservation tax break to lower the assessed values of their Highland Park homes by about 90 percent.. The total savings [of the tax break between 2003 and 2007] add up to more than $35,000 during that period:
* Rod Blagojevich’s defense attorneys have filed yet another mistrial motion…
In a motion filed overnight, attorney Sam Adam argues that the defense was denied the right to engage in “meaningful cross examination” of FBI agent Patrick Murphy who testified yesterday.
Zagel chided defense lawyers for suggesting in their motion that the agents were under some obligation to disclose to Blagojevich all the evidence of illegal activity they were investigating when they questioned him.
Zagel said it was a red herring for the defense team to raise the fairness of the interrogation as a reason for a mistrial, especially since Blagojevich wasn’t closeted alone with his interrogators but was surrounded with his own lawyers at the time. If Blagojevich’s lawyers want to suggest that the former governor came to feel entrapped, they are free to ask him about it when he takes the stand in his own defense — something Blagojevich has vowed to do, Zagel said.
Much of the defense plea for a mistrial amounted to “a needless waste of time,” Zagel said, because it was based on being blocked from refuting charges unrelated to the government case against Blagojevich.
“It’s a common thing for criminal defense lawyers to re-characterize the accusation and then try to refute the accusation that the government isn’t making,” Zagel lectured.
Defense attorneys for both Blagojevichs submitted the list of tapes they plan to play when they present their case. Zagel told them to go over their lists again and choose the conversations with the most significant passages, as the lists they submitted would have the jury listening to tapes for two to three weeks. Zagel said that would be a waste of time.
An explanation for why they wanted some of those tapes played…
Rod Blagojevich’s attorneys say they are basing his defense on the idea that the former Illinois governor had no intention of violating the law and acted only after getting advice from lawyers.
His lawyers had said that before but outlined it in their clearest statement to date in papers filed late Tuesday. It is designed to show Judge James Zagel why FBI wiretap tapes they want to play at Blagojevich’s corruption trial supply evidence for their defense.
The prosecution asked Zagel to ask the defense teams to make it clear soon what witnesses they plan to call to testify. Zagel determined the defense has until Monday to do so.
Expect another fight over that, and probably another mistrial motion.
* Related and trial roundup…
* Mayor Bloomberg’s Secret Weapon: A source close to the mayor puts it more bluntly: “Not only does he want Bradley on his team, he wants him to be a quarterback.”
* Executive: Afraid when FBI came to ask about Blago
* “The Tollway Was Connected to My Campaign Contributions”: Witness
* Mark Kirk received generally positive reviews last week for owning up to not telling the truth about his past…
The past few weeks, Congressman Mark Kirk has been on the defensive about his military resume. Now the Republican Senate hopeful is owning up to his mistakes with full disclosure.
He certainly sounded contrite for inflating his military and school teaching records…
“I am not perfect and was careless. I will do better and I will make sure that this never happens again.” […]
“But I take this all very seriously. This is a high office, great trust is put in the people that we entrust with this office and I think the scrutiny is absolutely appropriate.”
“I have made mistakes concerning certain aspects of my accomplishments and experiences, and I apologize for those mistakes and I pledge to correct those errors.”
* Carol Marin was mostly unimpressed with Kirk’s performance, but she wrote last week that it was time to change the subject, with one, major caveat…
Unless there are new revelations to come, it’s time to move on.
Earlier this year Kirk told the Sun-Times, “Last year, I was with a Dutch armor unit in Kandahar, getting shot at and being calm, cool and collected. We each had this kind of Dutch candy called ‘drop.’ I went through about 3000 calories getting what they call ‘nervous in the service.’”
But Tuesday, when asked several times at his news conference if he stood by that assertion, Kirk would only repeat that from now on he would say nothing beyond what’s in his fitness reports when it comes to his war record.
That claim is absolutely untenable. He’s no longer going to answer questions about his service record? And all he will do is point to his fitness reports? Not enough…
There is no mention in those reports of Kirk coming under fire during that time period.
You cannot on the one hand promise never to let these things happen again, and then refuse to clear up your record a week later. You cannot say media scrutiny is just fine and dandy with you because you’re campaigning for a “high office” and then a week later refuse to answer any and all questions on a specific topic.
REPORTER: You once told the Sun-Times, this was your quote: “Last year, I was with a Dutch armor unit in Kandahar, getting shot at.” Can you tell me a little bit more about it- when did it happen, what were the circumstances?
KIRK: Well as I went through my speech last week, I’ve made mistakes in my military record. I apologize for them and going forward will make sure that never happens again. But the way I’ll answer that is I released my fitness reports…The way I will go forward is I released my officer fitness reports for all 21 years of service in the Navy and will let the official record stand.
REPORTER: But you’re not saying this was a mistake then are you?
KIRK: No but I would refer you all to the officer fitness reports.
REPORTER: They might not have that detail…
KIRK: For me, going forward I will speak through the voices of the commanding officers in the field that assessed my performance, and you will be able to have that if you don’t already.
REPORTER: So that kind of goes as a non-response response?
KIRK: No, for me the officer fitness reports are the official record.
REPORTER: So anything you’ve said in the past, we should just disregard?
KIRK: No I’m saying that let’s stand on my official record to the United States Navy.
REPORTER: So anything you’ve said before, if you’ve said it just forget about it?
KIRK: As I stated before in the speech…
REPORTER: Do you have a record that will show where the question came up?
KIRK: So the record talks about the…just go through the detail…and especially my officer fitness report from my Afghan service…
REPORTER: Do you think your campaign- are you going to stop using photos that imply you’re a pilot? There are pictures of you sitting in a plane with pilot gear on. Are you guys going to stop using those or…
KIRK: They don’t…there is no issue because there…on many aircraft you have aircrew, and often times, in fact most of the people on the squad- in my squadron that I served in are not pilots. There are three other people on the aircraft who flew along.
Officer fitness reports do not represent Kirk’s full military record and he knows it.
* And these dodges aren’t just confined to his military record. As Lynn Sweet reports, he won’t talk about a lot of things. Remember, for instance, how he said he would “lead the effort” to repeal the national health care bill earlier this year? Kirk’s quote from mid-March…
“I’m Mark Kirk and I can’t wait to vote against the health care bill next week,” he told the crowd at the Friday evening dinner. […]
“There is one thing about the bill not commonly known: All of the pain of the bill is upfront and all of the gain is later. What do I mean? The bill includes 10 new federal taxes, and dramatic cuts for senior health care under Medicare between 2010 and 2014,” Kirk said. “The actual benefit of the bill doesn’t start until 2014. In between this time and then, is a presidential election. If we can win in the White House — and we’re on the way to making this guy a one termer — then if we move to repeal this bill in 2013, all you’re doing is removing the pain and not a single American would have benefited from it yet. And so, as your senator, I would lead the effort, if it passes, to repeal this bill.”
As of July 1, a discharge petition–the first step needed to get the matter back before the House– by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) has 109 signers. The group includes Illinois House Republicans Judy Biggert, Peter Roskam, Don Manzullo and John Shimkus.
Last week Kirk said he had yet to study the repeal matter fully but since it was law, he wanted to make sure the regulations were written to the advantage of Illinois. On Tuesday Kirk told me, “I haven’t got back to that, I haven’t read it yet.”
* Buried deep within a Wall Street Journal story yesterday on who might lead the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was a long list of possible candidates.
The list was headed by a somewhat familiar face…
Democratic leaders in Congress say their top pick for the post is Elizabeth Warren, the high-profile Harvard law professor and an outspoken critic of what she sees as a too-cozy relationship between government and bankers.
But then a long list of others was outlined…
Other potential candidates include Michael Barr, a Treasury assistant secretary and University of Michigan law professor with a longstanding interest in consumer finance; Democratic state attorneys general Martha Coakley of Massachusetts, Lisa Madigan of Illinois and Lori Swanson of Minnesota; Susan Wachter of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, who served in the Clinton Department of Housing and Urban Development; and Nicolas Retsinas of Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing studies, a former bank regulator and a low-income housing specialist.
The Lisa Madigan mention was quickly picked up by at least one local outlet…
In the most interesting political rumor of the day, the Wall Street Journal listed Attorney General Lisa Madigan as a possible director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, if and when Congress finally approves the financial reform package.
* Unsurprisingly, our attorney general isn’t interested, but here explanation wasn’t completely accepted by the Sun-Times…
Is another Chicagoan joining the Obama administration bandwagon?
Attorney General Lisa Madigan tried to put to rest speculation Tuesday that she is being considered for director of a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that Congress is expected to create as soon as next week. The federal bureau’s director will serve a five-year term.
But here’s her quote…
On Tuesday, she issued a statement saying that she appreciates being mentioned in light of her work fighting “predatory and often discriminatory mortgage lending.”
But Madigan threw her support behind the perceived front-runner for consumer czar, Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren.
“Not only was it [Warren’s] idea to create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but she has long understood the need for such an agency to ensure that another financial crisis doesn’t devastate the futures of millions of hardworking Americans,” Madigan said.
There’s just no way that she’s leaving Illinois. She passed up an almost sure-bet opportunity to run for US Senate. Mark Kirk strongly indicated last year that he wouldn’t run against her, and there’s nobody else out there who could’ve put up much of a fight. She’s staying in place.
* Most Illinois news outlets don’t appear to have run the full Associated Press story on the pay raises handed out by Gov. Pat Quinn to his staff. Some led with Bill Brady’s response…
The Republican candidate for Illinois governor says the pay raises Gov. Pat Quinn gave his staff show the Democrat is incapable of solving the state’s budget problems.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn is defending pay raises given to his staff even though the state is awash in debt.
* But drill down into the full AP story, and you’ll see that most of Quinn’s explanations don’t hold up. For instance…
Quinn also claimed he’d reduced staff by 10 positions in the governor’s office. […]
[But] payroll records show 124 employees in the governor’s office and budget office in May, compared to 125 in July 2009 and 122 in February 2009, just after Quinn took office.
Yesterday, Quinn said he’d cut his budget by 25 percent…
“…the overall budget of the governor’s office is 25 percent lower than it was when I was sworn in.”
Quinn’s proposed spending plan had a 10 percent increase in the budget office this year, documents show.
And what about total payroll? The AP found something quite different than what Quinn was claiming…
The overall payroll for the governor’s staff and his budget office was slightly lower in May than last July - $123,000 less, or just under 2 percent, according to state payroll records.
But other records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that dozens of employees reporting to the governor’s office are paid by other agencies under Quinn’s control.
So, we really don’t know yet whether this was an actual cut or an increase. Since the AP’s crack reporter John O’Conner is on the case, I’m assuming there will be at least one follow-up.
More than 40,000 unionized state workers got a pay raise last Thursday, bringing to 7 percent the amount they’re gotten since last year. These same state employees are in line for another 7 percent by next July 1st, all at a cost of a half-billion tax dollars a year.
It’s more than the virtually bankrupt state can afford, and some Republican lawmakers say the raises need to be rolled back.
“I’m outraged,” said State Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno. “It’s very difficult to buy this rhetoric that, ‘We need to borrow, we need increased revenue,’ when these kind of poor management decisions are going on.”
Governor Pat Quinn points out that the got the union members to defer 2 pecent of their scheduled raises temporarily until 2011, and the union also agreed to help the state find $70 million in health care savings.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Gov. Quinn was on Chicago Tonight last night to explain his raises and his budget. Watch…
*** UPDATE 2 *** AFSCME responds to the Fox Chicago report…
As informed watchers of state government, Capitol Fax blog readers know that last night’s Fox News report was incomplete, misleading and disingenuous. It lumped together nearly four years of pay increases for frontline state workers, but failed to provide that context.
The cost of those increases over four years is about 2 tenths of 1 percent of all state spending–that is, 2 pennies on every 100 dollars the state spends. And even that is an overstatement, since Fox also failed to note that state employees are paying more for health insurance over the same period, and that thousands are taking unpaid furlough days to help the state save money.
Finally, Fox neglected to mention that Illinois has the nation’s fewest state employees per capita. Manufactured controversies like this misinform the public and insult the men and women of state government who care for the disabled, aid the unemployed, prevent child abuse, analyze crime-scene evidence, keep our prisons safe, and perform all the other essential services Illinois residents rely on every day.
*** UPDATE 3 *** From Bill Brady…
“This morning, working families in Illinois woke up to learn that Governor Quinn is doling out massive pay raises as high as 24 thousand dollars to political cronies on his own staff, while the rest of us are tightening our belts, struggling just to get by.
I believe pay hikes for state government executives during a fiscal crisis is outrageous, but Governor Quinn? He defends his executive pay hikes, telling viewers on Chicago Tonight, “…that’s how it works.”
Well Governor, feathering the nests of your own political cronies while working families are just scraping by is NOT how government should work. If Pat Quinn is serious about controlling state spending, he should immediately enact a wage freeze on state government payroll, and reverse his pay hikes for his executive staff today.”
Gun rights proponents have wasted no time in filing a federal lawsuit to nullify the new ordinance passed by the City Council to replace the 28-year-old ban on handguns.
The Illinois Association of Firearms Retailers and four Chicago residents filed the lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court against the city and Mayor Richard M. Daley.
The plaintiffs include Brett Benson, 37, a trader on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange who owns a farm in central Illinois; Raymond Sledge, 53, a public elementary school teaching assistant who owns his own home but lives with his mother, who lives near a high-crime area on the South Side, in order to take care of her; and a Chicago couple — Kenneth Pacholski and Kathryn Tyler — he works in aircraft restoration, she is a veterinarian. All the plaintiffs own multiple guns but keep them outside the city limits, the suit says.
The lawsuit says Sledge wants to be able to carry his handgun outside his home in order to defend himself, but he is prevented from doing so by the city’s one gun ordinance.
With the city’s new gun ordinance they can each possess one gun, but they’d like to be able to have more than one gun in the city, the suit says. […]
Also among the plaintiffs is the Illinois Association of Firearms Retailers, which counts among its members people who would like to sell firearms and open shooting ranges within the city, but are barred from doing so by the city’s newest gun ordinances.The suit claims that the city’s new ordinances “infringes upon, and imposes an impermissible burden upon, the plaintiffs’ right to keep and bear arms.” The suit also claims that a provision that limits gun possession to those between 18 and 20 years old only if they have the written consent of a parent or guardian who is not prohibited from having a state Firearm Owner’s Identification Card, violates the rights of those under 21 to keep and bear arms.
The National Rifle Association is supporting a lawsuit against Mayor Richard Daley and the City of Chicago’s newly adopted gun control ordinance, which violates the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in McDonald v. City of Chicago. Last Friday, the City Council rushed through passage of this ordinance in response to the Court’s June 28th decision rendering Chicago’s draconian handgun ban unconstitutional.
“The Supreme Court has now said the Second Amendment is an individual freedom for all. And that must have meaning,” said Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association. “This decision cannot lead to different measures of freedom, depending on what part of the country you live in. City by city, person by person, this decision must be more than a philosophical victory. An individual right is no right at all if individuals can’t access it.”
According to the U.S. EPA, Illinois ranks among the larger contributors to downwind pollution such as emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which largely come from coal-burning power plants, as well as fine particulate matter, which comes from a variety of sources.
There have been some 588 grade-crossing accidents involving trains, vehicles and/or pedestrians in Illinois since 2006, resulting in 98 deaths, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. The state has the second-highest number of rail-crossing accidents in the nation, behind Texas.
Stroger wants to appoint local lawyer and government lobbyist Vincent Williams to the job. Cook County commissioners typically sign off on the president’s nominations, but several elected leaders say this one isn’t going to sail through.
